Top News, Articles, and Interviews in Philosophy

Logic: A Study Guide — Computability, arithmetic, Gödel

19. December 2020 Philosophy News News
I mentioned a couple of days ago that, in the last four months, the newly available PDFs of my Intro to Formal Logic and Intro to Gödel’s Theorems have both been downloaded over 3.5K times (and that’s ignoring an initial flurry of … Continue reading → The post Logic: A Study Guide — Computability, arithmetic, Gödel appeared first on Logic [More]
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The Secret of the Human Eyes: How Evolution Shapes our Perceptions

18. December 2020 Philosophy News News
   This post is reproduced from my blog "The Proud Holobionts" where I explore how the new concept of "Holobiont" can find applications not only in biology, but in many fields dealing with complex systems, including the human economy, memetics, and ecosystems  The short movie abov, Vikaari, has recently appeared on the "Dust" site and I think has several interesting features, relevant to the concept of holobionts.  It is very well done as a movie, although it is deeply contradictory in many aspects. For one thing, it is a narrative disaster. First, the movie tells you that the "Vikaari", children born without a visible iris in the eyes, are good people, while being the target of Nazi-like bad guys. Then, we see the Vikaari killing their pursuers using their psychokinetic powers in bloody and cruel ways, apparently without any regret. Needless to say, this completely destroys the narrative tension of the movie and leaves you totally baffled about what the filmmakers wanted to say.Indeed, I think the filmmakers were badly confused on several planes. First of all, in their decision of presenting this "new race" of children as something that will replace current human beings, engaged in destroying their own planet. Is this a hope or a fear? Difficult to say, but surely evolution doesn't work in that way. And then, why the choice of iris-less eyes as a defining mark? It is rare that people consciously perceive the [More]
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Mitsuko Uchida plays Schubert at Wigmore Hall

17. December 2020 Philosophy News News
Of recent concerts live streamed by Wigmore Hall, this stands out. Mitsuko Uchida plays Schubert’s Piano Sonata in C, D840 ‘Reliquie’, and the great Sonata in G, D894. This, surely, is Uchida at her very best, bringing out the depths, with miraculous … Continue reading → The post Mitsuko Uchida plays Schubert at Wigmore Hall appeared first on Logic [More]
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